English movie channels are creating action on and off television. They are creating innovative properties to grab eyeballs at various viewer touch points such as malls, restaurants, clubs, social networking sites, coffee shops and theatres to expand themselves from a niche urban market.
Channels such as Sony Pix, UTV World Movies, NDTV Lumiere, Zee Studio and the new entrant, WB, are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to interacting with movie buffs to increase their viewer base and establish a better connect with their audiences.
UTV World Movies made its foray to theatrical releases last month, with 140 new titles in association with PVR. Shantanu Aditya, chief executive officer, UTV Entertainment Television, said: “This is a marketing strategy to educate Indian audiences to know more about UTV World Movies. The channel has accomplished the 360 degree marketing objective of creating awareness and building the World Movies brand.”
Even NDTV Lumiere had its foray into world cinema last year. They are currently releasing films through PVR and Inox on a regular basis, and also through Fame, Fun and BIG multiplexes and other specific destination theatres like Nandan (in Kolkata), Sterling and Regal (in Mumbai).
Sunil Doshi, director and co-founder NDTV Lumiere, said: “Lumiere has acquired over 500 titles, of which it plans nine city releases in the country and some to be given to various film festivals, and for theatrical release of 50 to 60 per cent from the NDTV group.”
Zee Studio has also perked its on-ground activities to engage the audience with activities such as ‘Shut Up and Watch’ film club, ‘Studio Nites - Evenings of Karaoke’ and ‘Studio Nites Movie Song Karaoke Championship’. The film club, ‘Shut Up and Watch’ (SAW), screens one movie every month for English film buffs at Oxford Bookstore outlets across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai.
Sujay Kutty, senior vice-president and business head, Zee Studio, said: “With new English movie channels joining the fray, it’s no longer sufficient for one movie to stay within the confines of the TV set in the living room. It has become that much more important to distinguish yourself from the competition and register your brand identity sharply in the minds of viewers, so that they have a clear understanding of what to look forward to on your channel.”
“It’s an endeavour aimed at taking quality cinema to genuine movie enthusiasts across the country in the unique setting of a bookstore,” he adds. According to Kutty, Oxford attracts the right segment of people. The movies screened at Oxford Bookstore outlets (with seating capacity of 40) run to packed houses and the outlets in five metros enables Zee Studio to reach out to about 40 to 50 film lovers every day. Other than theatrical releases and film clubs, English movie channels have also taken to restaurants. NDTV Lumiere conducts screenings in restaurants once every week. For Delhi, Lumiere has tied up with The Garden, Lodhi, and Tabula Rassa; in Bangalore, with Pebble; and in Mumbai, it’s Zenzi for World Cinema Sundays. Pix, from Multi Screen Media India, is also creating innovative properties to grab eyeballs at various viewer touch points, with Rock Band shows and quiz contests.
Sunder Aaron, business head of PIX, said” “Yes, we have considerably increased the number of onground activities for PIX over the last couple of years. For example, AXN was very active early on in carrying out events. Since it established itself early, the channel’s recall among the viewers and strength in positioning remain high.”
The outcome of onground activities have helped the channels to garner television viewing rating points (TVRs). For example, Sony Pix recently carried out a string of activities around the film Slumdog Millionaire, which became the highest rated movie since January 2007. The highest rated movie before this was Spiderman 2 (TVR – 1.69 in Jan 2006) and King Kong (TVR – 1.17 in Jan 2007) .The share of the channel increased to 33 per cent in week 26 from 12 per cent the previous week, found TAM Media Research.
The channels are not only looking at expanding their reach in metros but are also showing interest in smaller cities such as Pune and Ahmedabad. Lumiere recently gave some of its titles for film festivals being held in cities such as Kolhapur, Solapur, Nagpur and Ahmedabad, to expand its reach in smaller towns.
